From The Other Side

Chapter Ten: Erotes

The cave went on and on in an endless maze of dark tunnels. For days, he wandered, without food, without water, and without clothes. He couldn't sleep in that place. The spiders would start crawling over his skin whenever he lay down to try and get some rest. He never saw them; he just felt them roaming around his body.

Not knowing what was around him made the smallest of noises sound like an immediate threat. Given where he was, it could very well be one.

In less than twelve hours, Oliver had fallen from the sky and cracked every bone of his body; he had been kidnapped, eaten, stabbed, bathed in acid, kidnapped and stabbed once again. He still hadn't been able to process most of those facts. His body could heal, but his mind couldn't. That had always been the problem. If only his fragile psyche had developed the ability to mend like his sliced flesh and his broken bones.

After days without one brief ray of light, it was as if his other senses had quickly evolved to help him understand that world he couldn't see. And whatever it was, something was growing inside him as well. Something else, something he could feel expanding under his skin, poisoning his head with thoughts that didn't belong to him. They couldn't belong to him. No, not that sickening drive to hurt.

He had never been like that. He had always dedicated himself to good. Oliver had devoted his life to the pursuit of virtue, and even in Hell, he still prayed to God. If only he knew what to ask for.

He shivered amongst the cold rocks, weak and tired. He didn't believe it when a distant flash of light finally found him. Oliver hesitated for a moment. He stretched his neck, struggling to find it again. He grunted, fighting his own spine. He hadn't been made to raise his head.

But it was there, unexpected, as if God had said once more: "let there be light". Oliver took a step forward and then stopped. Was leaving the cave even worth it at that point? With all of the dangers that punitive world had to throw at him?

A lonely spider brushed his foot.

Suddenly, he was running with everything that he had, fearful that the exit could disappear before he made it out.

He stepped on a pointy rock and fell to the ground, grazing his whole body, but he did not stop. He barely felt it. He was getting closer and closer, and when he threw himself on the rough embrace of the earth, he cried. And he lay there, with his two arms open, as if waiting for the angels to come down and rescue him.

At that moment, his heart skipped a beat inside his chest. For the first time in what already felt like an eternity, it wasn't because of fear.

"You lost?" Eros's familiar voice asked.

Oliver sat up in a hurry, blinking as his eyes struggled to adapt to the newfound sunlight. He looked around, meeting his friend's gaze. Eros stood there in a simple tunic, leaning against a dead tree. Two long, white wings hung from his back.

"Eros? Is that really you?"

"As far as I'm aware, yes, it's really me," he answered with his soft grin, the best proof of his identity he could ever offer. "Seems like someone's having a rough time out here. Let's have some fun, shall we?"

Eros turned around and started walking away. Oliver frowned.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Where I belong." Eros stopped after realizing Oliver was not following. "Aren't you coming?"

Oliver looked down at his own uncovered body.

"Oh, right," Eros said, untying the upper part of his garment. He took it off and wrapped it around his friend in a hug. He was warm, Oliver noticed. Nothing else was warm in that place.

The two walked together towards the colossal structure, always calling out for Oliver. Eros's wings were long enough to drag on the ground as he made his way through the dead trees.

"What happened to this place?" Oliver asked.

"Phobos discovered a very efficient weapon to destroy us," he answered, walking around the skeleton of a deer.

"Phobos?"

Eros gazed at him. "I can tell you don't know much about this place," he giggled. "After they annexed Hestia, we're the last ones standing."

Oliver finally understood what that structure was. A mountain rose from the ground, and at the top of a man-made plateau, he could already see the contour of what looked like a Greek temple. They found a narrow road that led them to a couple of statues, each of them 17 feet tall, marble angels with their wings spread in the air, marking the beginning of long flights of stairs that made the connection between the ground and the acropolis.

"Welcome to Erotes," Eros announced. "May I?" He asked, reaching a hand out for Oliver.

The boy hesitated but decided to take it. If he fell, it wouldn't be the first time anyways.

"Come on, it'll be cool," Eros said, wrapping his arms around Oliver's waist.

He flapped his wings, raising a cloud of dust where they were standing seconds before. Oliver kept his eyes shut, the strong winds blowing on his face hit him like punches.

"You might not believe it," Eros screamed over the howling wind. "But you're wasting the opportunity of a lifetime."

Oliver slowly opened his eyes. The earth spread beneath them. It wasn't breathtakingly beautiful, but what did it matter. He was flying. They circled the acropolis a few times before landing at the top of the stairs.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Eros laughed.

"How did you end up here?" Oliver asked, still trying to catch his breath.

"Here... where?"

"In... Hell," Oliver clarified.

Eros smirked as he turned around, making his way towards a perfect replica of what the Parthenon had been in the Golden Age of Athens. Under the shadow of the temple, they were nothing. A trail of rose petals marked their path up the small flight of stairs leading to immense golden doors.

Although the sky was dark, and the sun, hidden behind thick thunderclouds, the bright, burning flames reflected on the doors made it feel like they were watching the sunset together.

They could hear the music even before the heavy doors opened to them.

"My darling," Eros started, raising a brow at Oliver, "who told you this is Hell?"